My Brother, Set
by mmooch
Summary: **Sequel to 'Goddess or Goa'uld'.** No longer a Slayer, Buffy finds out she still has enemies to fight. **Chapter 11 edited for a small, but important error.**
1. Chapter 1: To Catch a Brother

**My Brother, Set**

Summary: No longer a Slayer, Buffy finds out she still has enemies to fight. Sequel to _'Goddess or Goa'uld'_.

Timeline: BtVS - Season 2, a couple months post episode _'Halloween'_. Stargate: SG-1 – sometime after season 5 episode _'Wormhole X-treme!'_. I've changed the timing and details of the episode _'Seth'_.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: This is for those that wanted to see Buffy meet SG-1. WARNING –before any of you complain, this story is about the confrontation with Set, not any of the things I skimmed over at the beginning.

A/N2: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for checking this out for me.

**Chapter 1: To Catch a Brother**

**Sunnydale**

**Christmas Break…**

Since Halloween when she was invaded by the demon, Bastet, and turned into the goddess, Bast, Buffy had gone through some serious changes. The first one was immediate: losing her Slayer abilities.

As it turned out, it didn't really matter to the Watchers Council. Her death the previous spring had already triggered the new Slayer, Kendra. And Giles was just as shocked to find out about it as Buffy was. Kendra and her Watcher, Sam Zabuto, showed up three days after Giles called the Council about the spell and sent Ethan to the coven.

The new Slayer was practically a puppet and Zabuto was holding her strings. When Giles or Buffy tried to make any suggestions, he informed them that the Council had no need for help from 'civilians'. Giles calmly reminded the other Watcher that he worked for the Council, too. Zabuto smirked and replied, _'Not anymore.'_

Apparently the Head of the Council, a pillock – Giles' word – by the name of Travers, blamed Giles for Buffy losing her powers. If he had done his job properly, she never would have been in the costume that caused it to happen. Not to mention it was an old acquaintance of Giles' who performed the spell.

But the Council was being 'generous' about the situation…As long as they didn't interfere with the new team, Giles wouldn't be deported or Buffy 'dealt with'. When they revoked their support for him as the librarian though, Snyder took great pleasure in removing him and putting one of the Mayor's lackeys there.

However, Giles refused to leave until the mystery of Bastet's brother was solved. Therefore, the Scooby Gang – which now sported the new couple of Xander and Willow – set up their base of operations in Giles' apartment. Willow even convinced him to get an internet hook-up for his new computer.

It would have amused Jenny Calendar that he had finally moved into the 20th century, but after Eyghon came around, she wasn't speaking to him anymore. She was so terrified by the experience that she requested another member of her clan come to keep an eye on Angel(us) so she could leave.

The gypsies needn't have worried though. Once Angel helped defeat Eyghon, Buffy used her new goddess powers from Bast, and confronted Angel about the curse, asking him what he really wanted. Did he – the soul of Liam – want to keep seeking atonement for what the demon did in his body, or did he want to finally go to his eternal judgment, whether it was good or bad?

When he chose judgment, she let loose with her Royal Flame of Ma'at, which judged the dead. After the smoke cleared, a newly-human Liam stood where the demon perished. Knowing that he couldn't help her until he got used to his new life, Liam left Buffy to find himself again. He tearfully promised that he would be back, though.

Eight weeks had passed since 'The Change' and it took just over one for anyone to realize what was happening. It might have been less than that, except for it didn't affect Buffy's hair or nails. Another week passed before they were sure…Buffy was aging. Not by tremendous amounts, but after three weeks they couldn't hide the truth anymore.

They had to tell Joyce – which meant they had to tell her about magick and the supernatural. Needless to say, she didn't take it well. Without her Slayer abilities, Buffy had to resort to asking Bast to share her powers in order to convince her mother. A good part of a bottle of vodka later, Joyce asked if this was the cause for their problems in LA. She seemed relieved to hear Buffy say yes.

The problem they had at first was they couldn't figure out how much more Buffy was going to age. In eight weeks, she went from a 16 year old to somebody who looked like they were in their late 20s or early 30s. When they couldn't find the answer in the books, Willow had the brainstorm of asking Bast if _she_ knew the reason. Turns out she did; she _was_ the reason.

Evidently, the power that Buffy took into her body when she became the temple of Bast was so immense, the only way to keep it from burning her from the inside out was to age her more rapidly – in order to use up the energy. Fortunately, the energy was at manageable levels now.

What that meant for the former Slayer was she couldn't remain in Sunnydale as Buffy Summers anymore. She had practically gone into hiding since her mother was told. Too many people had commented on how much older she looked. Of course, they thought she was just doing her make-up differently or something.

Willow started working on new identification for her blonde friend. They decided to go with the name Anne Celia Markson; Buffy's middle name, her cousin's name and Joyce's maiden name. For the sake of irony, they picked Halloween as her new birthday and decided she was 29. That got giggles from the women that the men didn't understand.

So Buffy was relieved to hear that Willow finally found something on Set – or Seth, as his new worshippers were calling him these days. Turned out he had himself a Waco-style compound for him and his brainwashed followers. Bast helped Buffy find out more from Bastet about what to expect when they went to confront him.

The demon's arrogance was astounding. Even though the Goa'uld – the kind of demon it was – knew it was locked in Buffy's subconscious _without_ its body, it still felt it would eventually win the upper hand. Buffy rolled her eyes when it proclaimed that she and her friends would bow down in fear when it did.

But Bastet wasn't her problem right now, Set was.

----------------------------

**Giles' apartment**

When Xander and Willow arrived, they found a stack of luggage by the door. They looked at the former Watcher/Slayer pair in confusion. Buffy handled the explanation, "So here's the deal: Giles and I will go and take Set out and try to free his sheep. After that, I'm going to have to leave Sunnydale for good."

"Buffy is right; eventually the Council will start to ask questions, and when they find out that she has aged so much in so little time-- Well, let's just say they won't be pleased," Giles added, suppressing the shudder that wanted to come at the thought of what they might do to Buffy.

But Xander must have read something in his expression anyway. "You think they would hurt the Buffster?"

Polishing his glasses, Giles nodded grimly, "I'm afraid so. Either that or they would try to study her. I'm not sure which alternative is worse."

Willow bit her lip to keep from complaining about the unfairness of it all. Instead, she leveled her 'resolve-look' at the blonde and asked, "But you'll keep in touch, right?"

"You bet. I couldn't live without you guys. We'll just have to make do with the long distance thing now," Buffy promised. In a way, this might be a blessing in disguise for her friends. Without her in Sunnydale, they might feel more free to leave once they graduated.

There was still an issue that bothered Xander, though. "What about your mom?"

Giles responded to give Buffy the time to compose herself. The conversation with her mother had been most unpleasant for everyone. There were a lot of accusations thrown around – most of which were directed at him. "We've explained the dangers of staying to Joyce. While she is not happy about our solution, she understands that we know more about this kind of thing than she does."

"Doesn't mean she didn't threaten to kill me if I don't call every once in a while," Buffy added with a smirk. It turned out a lot better than she had expected it to. What probably swayed her mom to their arguments was she wasn't that far from being an adult, and that by leaving Sunnydale, Buffy would have a fresh start from slaying.

The plan was for Joyce to report her as missing after some weird behavior the past month and a half. With luck, everyone would think the 16 year old ran off to be with some man. And while the older version of Buffy looked similar, she was clearly _not_ 16.

"What will the Council think of you taking off like this?" Willow wondered, concerned what those stuffy poopheads would do. The new Watcher took all the respect the gang had for the Council and flushed it down the toilet with his snarky attitude.

Shrugging his shoulders, Giles regretted admitting that the Council was a wild card, "I don't know. I'm hoping that it will be a while before they can find her. Maybe by then we'll have figured out how to handle them."

Buffy needed to get the farewells over with. Even though she knew that this was the best thing for everyone, it still ripped her heart out – even more than saying goodbye to 'Liam'. He was her crush-turning-into-love guy, but these were her best friends. "Bye, you two. I love you. Make sure you take care of each other or I'll come back and go goddess on your asses," she threatened them teasingly, pulling them into tight hugs.

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A/N: Next…The SGC plans their own take-down and run into Buffy.


	2. Chapter 2: To Catch a Goa’uld

**Chapter 2: To Catch a Goa'uld**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for checking this out for me.

----------------------------

**Cheyenne Mountain**

Jack felt like banging his head on the conference table. It had been almost two months since Jacob told them that Seth was on Earth. Two months of looking for that snakehead in news reports and internet searches. He was tempted to start knocking on doors soon.

Fortunately, Sam saved his knees from the extra wear and tear. After her dad arrived, she explained, "We found his compound, here in the States. There's a problem though."

"What, Carter?" Jack snapped, his usual good temper gone in the wake of his frustration.

She only hesitated momentarily at his brusque tone. Everyone was on edge knowing there was a Goa'uld loose on Earth. "It's being watched by the Feds."

Jacob snarled in sarcasm, surprising Selmak, "Great. Can we take over jurisdiction?" he asked Hammond hopefully.

General Hammond shook his head in regret, "The best we can do is ask for cooperation as part of a joint operation." He tried every trick in his book to get the ATF out of the way, but nothing worked.

Setting aside the problem of the Feds for the moment, Daniel inquired about the real threat, "How are we supposed to get in there anyway? Wouldn't Seth just have his followers simply kill us?"

"He'd drug you first," Jacob corrected the young archeologist. "Teal'c and I couldn't go in since he'd feel our symbiotes," he continued ruefully.

"Wouldn't he be able to sense me?" Sam pointed out. After all, she could sense Jaffa and Goa'uld because of her blending with Jolinar a few years earlier.

Selmak answered for Jacob, "It's unlikely. You have such a small presence that he'd need to be practically touching you to feel it."

"That's too dangerous of a risk for her to take. Not only would she be putting herself in harm's way unnecessarily, she could compromise the mission," Hammond shot down the idea. This was too important to take chances.

Sam tried to protest, "Sir, I--"

Jack stopped her with a hand outstretched, "Ah! No, Carter; you'll have to stay with your dad and Teal'c on the outside as our back-up."

Jacob went on to tell them about the Nishta and how to count-act it. Jack and Daniel were fitted with devices that would give them the appropriate amount of electrical shock if they were given the brainwashing drug.

----------------------------

**Seth's Compound**

**2 days later…**

Once the plan was essentially decided upon, they made their way to the compound. With minimum fuss, the operation was put under 'General' Jacob Carter's authority. They would have used Jack, but since he needed to infiltrate the compound, it had to be Jacob.

"Don't forget to keep your heads down as long as you can. We really don't want to have to come in with guns blazing to save you," Jacob winced at the image of how badly that could turn out.

Jack just gave them his irrepressible smile. "We'll be the souls of discretion, right Danny?" he slapped his friend's shoulder.

Groaning, Daniel whimpered, "We're doomed."

"My thoughts exactly," Sam muttered after the two men disappeared into the tunnel.

----------------------------

A/N: Sorry for the extreme shortness of this chapter, but this will be where the story splits into two possibilities. This one is the story I have finished…mostly. The other one is thanks to a reviewer's comment. When I get the chance, MaxGSandeman, I'll write an alternative story for you.

A/N2: Next…SG-1 and Buffy meet at Seth's compound.


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting a Goddess

**Chapter 3: Meeting a Goddess**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for checking this out for me.

----------------------------

**Inside the compound**

In true SG-1fashion, Jack and Daniel were captured almost immediately after setting foot inside. They were taken before Seth, who demanded, "So, you think you can come in here and attack me? Who sent you?"

"We just wanted to bask in your glory or whatever," Jack attempted to praise the snake.

Daniel desperately wished he could hit the Colonel right then. "Good one, Jack. I'm sure he really believed your sincerity," he ground out.

Before they could say anything else, Seth screamed, "You will pay for this treachery!"

"Awww. Hey, big brother; having trouble with your minions?" Buffy appeared from the hallway, having used Bast's powers to materialize close to the demon. She carefully kept a dagger out of sight, but ready to use. She mimicked the eyes and voice of Bastet to help her brother recognize her.

Which he did…after several seconds. "Bastet? How did you get here?" he questioned, wondering if this was a good thing or bad.

Dropping the act, Buffy replied flippantly, "Umm, with the help of a god. Now, how's about you leave quietly and I won't have to rip you to shreds?"

"Your arrogance will be your undoing, Bastet. You could never hope to match me!" Seth declared, more confidently than he felt. He had been out the battlefield for a very long time. She actually might be able to beat him.

"Please! My deadbeat dad could take you," Buffy shot back. While she was talking to him, she was keeping a close eye on the occupants in the room, making sure that they stayed out of this.

Now Seth was really concerned. For her to be so reckless where their father was concerned could only mean that he was dead. "You dare to speak of Ra like that?" he bluffed.

Buffy dismissed his implied threat, "Ra was the Bastet's father, not mine. I just got her memories in their full color, surround-sound horror. If you and the other Goa'uld are like her, then I'll take great pleasure in hunting you down like the demons you are," she remarked, still sounding awfully casual about the situation.

Seth felt better now. This creature – whatever she was – couldn't harm him. She just admitted she didn't have a symbiote any longer. If he had been thinking more clearly, he would have wondered about her survival after losing Bastet. "And just how do you expect to beat a god?" he challenged.

Before he could see what she was doing, Buffy threw her dagger at his throat, killing both the host and the symbiote, faster than he could raise his shield. "That's the problem with being insane; you start to believe your own hype," she answered his corpse.

Seeing Seth's followers were still in a state of shock, Buffy considered her options. "Hmm, guess I have to figure out how to unbrainwash all you guys now." She looked around and saw a zat. "This should do." Then she proceeded to shoot each person once, ducking their attempts to attack her.

When she turned to the captured members of SG-1, Daniel called out quickly, "Wait! You don't have to zat us! We weren't under his control!" he pleaded. She obviously wasn't interested in killing anyone besides Seth, but the effects of the zat still hurt.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the obvious statement. "Well, duh! Could kinda tell that from all the talking back. What I want to know is: are you good guys or just working for some other demony Goa'uld?" she interrogated, still holding the weapon on them.

"The Goa'uld aren't demons; they're parasitic aliens," Daniel couldn't help correcting her.

"Sure," Buffy drawled. "You go on thinking that," she commented, much like somebody not wanting to fight a crazy person's delusions.

The tone wasn't lost on Jack. "I suppose _you_ know better?" he snarked back.

"Sure do. Even know which dimension they escaped from," she declared proudly.

The revelation stunned Daniel. "You're serious!"

"Why would I lie about that? Actually, they are the result of a god's version of a practical joke. It just got out of hand," Buffy explained, gritting her teeth at the god in question. They really needed better hobbies if this was the crap they pulled when they needed entertainment.

"Uh-huh. And this god would be…?" Jack prompted, not sure if he liked this woman's attitude. Sure, she saved them from possible torture, but she was just so…infuriating!

"Janus," she replied easily.

Daniel categorized the name out loud, "The god of Chaos."

Having decided that these two _might_ not be a threat, Buffy lowered the zat slightly and leaned against the wall. "Yep. He just wanted to cause a little havoc a while back – for gods anyway. Then he got bored and forgot to put them back into their own dimension. Now he can't do anything about it because they've spread out too much."

"And you worship Janus and are doing his bidding?" Daniel guessed, wondering if there was a new Goa'uld-like being that was just using this woman.

Buffy snorted in derision, "Please! As if! No, one of his followers cast a spell that involved me. Janus saw his opportunity to use me to get rid of his mistake. But he needed help, so he asked the real Bast to join with me."

"So you _are_ a snakehead!" Jack declared triumphantly. It was much better to hate her than to feel any sort of gratitude towards her.

"No," she denied, then thought about it for a second before adding, "Well, maybe I was – technically – for a couple minutes. That's the only reason I can think of for remembering everything the false goddess, Bastet, did. Bast helped me lock her away in my mind after we destroyed her physical form."

"Why would Janus choose you to be his champion?" Daniel inquired. So far she appeared to be a good choice. After all, she took out Seth with hardly any trouble.

"Great fashion sense?" Buffy offered with a ditzy expression. When the two just glared at her, she conceded, "Fine, before the spell, I was a warrior for the Powers That Be. There was only supposed to be one of us at a time, but when I died, I came back instead of staying dead like I should have. It caused an imbalance, so the PTB were more than happy to let me go. Anything more than that will have to wait until I know I can trust you."

Daniel knew they had to check her out – seeing as how she spoke like a Goa'uld when she first arrived. But he hoped to get her to agree to it instead of risking upsetting her by forcing her…if they could. "Will you come back to the mountain with us? Just so that we can be sure you don't still have a symbiote?" he requested in his most reasonable tone.

Buffy had a short mental conversation with Bast. The goddess pointed out that the others had every reason to be concerned. And if they tried anything, Buffy could just use Bast's powers to get away. "Just have to let my friend know where I'm going. He'd be awfully cranky with me if I left him behind."

Standing up cautiously, Daniel responded, "Our friends are waiting outside for us as well."

"Lead on then," Buffy answered, shutting down the zat completely and tucking it into the back of her waistband.

"We're coming out, and we've got an ally…we think," Jack said into his earpiece, shooting a look at the blonde and keeping her between him and Daniel.

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A/N: Next…Figuring Anne (Buffy) out. Good luck with that!


	4. Chapter 4: A New AllyProblem

**Chapter 4: A New Ally/Problem**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for checking this out for me.

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**Outside the compound**

When she sensed the symbiotes in Jacob and Teal'c, Buffy glared at the others. "What's this? I thought you wanted the demons dead? How come there are two of them in your group?"

Daniel rushed to explain, kicking himself for not thinking of it earlier, "Teal'c is a Jaffa; he knows that Apophis is a false god and wants to destroy them all."

Buffy nodded warily, then turned her glare on Jacob. "And the other one?"

"My name is Jacob Carter; I'm the host of the Tok'ra, Selmak," he introduced himself formally, sensing that whatever happened in the compound made this woman either a potential ally or a possible threat if not handled properly.

The resistance name caused her to smile brightly. "So you went against dear ol' dad, huh?" she smirked.

Stunned by her abrupt change in attitude, Jacob stuttered out, "Who are you?"

"If you mean the Goa'uld that was in me, that was Bastet. She's dead now, but I'm using her memories to get rid of the others. You're lucky that she remembers the Tok'ra, and her hatred of you is real, not just the usual Goa'uld politics," Buffy said pointedly.

Giles touched her arm to get her attention. He was still a little disoriented from her transporting him to the tent unexpectedly. "Anne, what is going on here?" he asked, being sure to use her new identity.

"We're taking a little trip to be sure I'm not Bastet," she informed her former Watcher and current friend.

Fighting the urge to polish his glasses in front of these people, Giles murmured, "Is that wise?"

"Yeah. Bast will keep us safe. If they try anything, she'll help us get out of there," Buffy whispered back. Then she spoke in a louder voice, "So, are you ready to go? Everybody who's going needs to hold hands then. I'd prefer blondie hold Giles' other hand and Daniel holds mine," she said, looking at Carter. She looked at Teal'c and Jacob to explain, "No offense, you may be Tok'ra and Jaffa, but I don't know if I can trust you yet. At least _she_ doesn't still have her symbiote."

----------------------------

**Cheyenne Mountain**

Taking in the concrete walls of the facility, Buffy commented, "So this is where you learn to fight the fake gods. A little drab for my taste, but that's the military for you."

Jack was annoyed that she transported them directly into the secure base. They decided to leave Teal'c and Jacob behind to wait for their people to get there to clean up the situation. "Let's just get you down to the doc. Make sure you aren't a snake," he said, almost as a warning.

But Buffy wasn't the slightest bit concerned – at least about the demon part. "Fine. You know that if you try to do any experiments on me or Giles, we'll take off," she warned right back.

----------------------------

**After the physical…**

Dr. Fraiser came to the observation room to give her report. "As far as I can tell, she's a healthy human woman. She has the protein marker and naquadah in her blood, indicating she was once a host, but that is all."

General Hammond nodded, dismissing the doctor before turning to Buffy to ask, "What are your plans, young lady?"

"Find the Goa'uld and kill them," Buffy replied straightforwardly.

Despite his earlier reluctance to like her, this comment made Jack grin. "Nice. Simple. Do you know _how_ you're going to accomplish that?" he inquired.

The Slayer-turned-goddess shrugged, "Nah. I usually just wing it."

"Oh no, she's another Colonel," Sam muttered under her breath, but was smiling when she did so.

They were interrupted by the klaxons sounding. "Offworld activation!" the PA system announced loudly.

"Is there an IDC?" Hammond demanded of the gate technician.

Sgt. Harriman responded, "No, sir."

Narrowing his eyes, Hammond ordered, "Close the iris."

Even thought the iris engaged, it didn't stop their visitors from getting through. Jack smiled when he saw who they were and called to the guards, "Stand down! They're friends!" Then he ran down to the gateroom to greet them.

Anteaus quickly demanded, "Where is she?"

Jack shook his head in confusion. "Pardon me? Who? And by the way, nice to see you too," he added snarkily.

Bowing her head, Lya replied, "Our apologies. It is just that we felt an Ancestor on your planet and near your gate. We are most anxious to see her."

"Who is it you're looking for?" Daniel inquired, trying to figure out who or what an Ancestor could be – aside from the obvious human connotation..

Anteaus and Lya exchanged what appeared to be embarrassed expressions. "We are unsure; we only know it is an Ancestor," she admitted. "Now that we are here, we feel that it is a she."

Daniel's eyes widened in surprise as the pieces came together. "You don't think they could be talking about…" he glanced up at the observation room, where Buffy and Giles were watching the scene with curiosity, "…do you, Jack?"

Feeling the need to pound his head against a wall or some other solid object, Jack declared, "Oh for crying out loud! Alright, follow us; we _may_ have your Ancestor upstairs." Their lives just _had_ to keep getting weirder!

When the Nox entered the room, Buffy leaned over and whispered in Giles' ear, "Is it just me, or is it a little creepy how much that guy resembles Snyder?"

"No, the similarity is disturbing," Giles whispered back.

The Snyder-lookalike beamed at Buffy and proclaimed, "Ancestor, it is wonderful that you have returned!"

Carefully returning his greeting, Buffy replied apologetically, "I'm sorry. Who are you and who do you think I am?"

Hiding her dismay at the lack of understanding, Lya tried to explain, "We are the Nox; this is Anteaus, and I am Lya. We feel your power. You are an Ancestor."

After some puzzling explanations were given, Bast spoke in Buffy's mind, _"I think they are referring to me."_

Buffy nodded in understanding, "Ah, I get it now." The rest of the room looked at her in surprise – mostly because she seemed to be talking to herself. "Your Ancestor just told me what you're talking about."

"_You_ aren't the Ancestor?" Anteaus inquired, unsure how to take this new twist.

"Nope. We're just kinda sharing my body." When the others raised eyebrows at her explanation, she continued, "They've moved on from having a physical form, but can – under the right circumstances – join with certain humans for various tasks. Bast and I get along, so she's gonna hang with me for a while."

"Wait! Back at Seth's compound, you said Bastet was dead," Daniel interrupted. Bast and Bastet were names the same way Set and Seth were; both referring to the same person/being.

"The _demon_ that went by the name Bastet died. I do, however, retain her memories and abilities. Bast is the real goddess of protection. They're both in my mind." Buffy leaned over to whisper to her friend, "By the way, Giles, she was responsible for what I was _before_. I just figured that out now. Sorry. That's how she was able to help get rid of Bastet."

Giles' eyes lit up, intrigued at the possibility. "We'll talk about that later…in private."

"It is from you that we get our ability to conceal ourselves from danger," Lya explained, attempting to get their Ancestor's attention back.

But she was startled by the flash of anger her words caused. "You _avoid_ danger?" Buffy ground out.

"B-- Anne…remember, we know nothing of these people. You shouldn't make judgments about their culture," Giles reminded his former Slayer.

However, it wasn't Buffy at the helm currently, it was Bast. "Sorry, Scholar, but they are misusing the gifts I bestowed on their people many millennia ago. The power to blend into your surroundings is to better _defend_ yourselves and those you are bound to protect, not to _hide_," the goddess reprimanded the gentle pacifists.

Anteaus tried to justify their actions, "We just thought it was better to remove ourselves from the violence."

Bast refused to accept that excuse though. "All you did was force somebody else to fight your battles for you. How many died needlessly because you didn't stop the evil from spreading?" Buffy turned to Giles and remarked in her normal tone, "Wow, that sounds frighteningly familiar."

Lya spoke, tears in her eyes for disappointing her, "We apologize, Ancestor. We meant no disrespect. This is how it has been for generations," she explained.

With those words, Bast's anger left her and shame replaced it. "I guess it was not only Janus that fell down on the job then. I am sorry that I failed to keep better track of what was happening to your people," she returned the apology.

The scene shocked the members of the SGC. They were used to the callous disregard and outright violence of the Goa'uld towards their followers. To see the Nox's goddess treat them kindly and actually apologize to them…well, it floored them.

"Can you teach us? It has been too long since we have used our abilities as weapons," Lya pleaded for her people.

With only the slightly more confident and regal tone to set her apart from Buffy, Bast replied, "I will help, but you must understand that I also have the responsibility to rid this dimension of the demon Goa'uld." Buffy turned to the General and asked, "Will it be a problem if I use the gate here to visit my friends and family?"

Hammond was grateful that she asked. Given that the Nox could get through their iris, he had no doubts that she could as well. "I'm not sure we could stop you, but I will ask the President anyway."

"I don't want bad relations with you, so forcing my way past your shieldy thing every time I wanted to come home would probably be a bad thing," Buffy explained honestly. "If it's a problem, I'd just have to think of something else," she added, thinking that maybe she should get one of Bastet's spaceships to fly around in.

Hammond stood and made his way to the red phone in his office.

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**Several minutes later…**

"I've spoken with the President, and he's requested that I ask you for an alliance," Hammond said to Buffy, using the respectful tone he saved for interplanetary diplomacy with a powerful ally like the Asgard.

Jack was startled by the speed of the President's response. "Sir?"

Hammond explained, "She's shown no hostility towards anyone, other than the Goa'uld. Since she isn't currently a host, he feels we should coordinate our efforts. And the fact that the Nox vouch for her goes a long way with him."

Buffy looked at her mentor. "Giles?" He nodded his agreement. "Alright, I'm in. When Bast isn't teaching the Nox how to use their abilities, we'll be taking out the baddies."

"This should be fun," Jack shook his head. In actuality, now that he knew for sure she wasn't a snakehead, he found her to be very interesting and amusing. The Goa'uld wouldn't know what hit them.

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**Sunnydale**

**A week later…**

"So Buffy is going to be helping out the Air Force fight those Goa'uld demons?" Willow asked the former Watcher, since Buffy was on the Nox homeworld, getting to know Bast's people.

Giles polished his glasses as he confirmed Buffy's plans, "Yes. It appears that they are even more widespread than she knew. I'm sorry to do this to you and Xander, but I need to join her. Neither of us fully trust these people yet. Besides, it turns out they could use my skills in translating and such. And she has to teach a race of beings that Bast gave certain powers to how to use those powers again."

Willow smiled at him, trying to reassure him, "Don't worry about us. As soon as we graduate, we plan to leave Sunnydale. Buffy's mom is already getting ready to move back to LA."

"Just hope the new Slayer can handle things here. She doesn't seem as good as Buffy. We've caught her in action a couple times, and she's too--" Xander cut off, unsure of how to put it.

But Willow didn't have the same problem, so she filled in, "Robotic. She doesn't show any imagination."

Dismayed at the blindness of the Watchers Council in how they treated these girls – especially now that he knew they were created by Bast to protect mankind from the demon scourge – Giles sighed, "Well, we will be keeping an eye on things, and if necessary, we'll come back to help out – whether they want our assistance or not."

----------------------------

A/N: There! Hope that makes y'all happy now. Actually, now I'm going to work on the alternative: Buffy taking care of Seth _before_ SG-1 shows up.


	5. Chapter 5 'B' version: The Problem

**Chapter 5 (3b): A New Threat?**

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal for checking this out for me.

A/N2: Here's the alternate version of Buffy killing Set(h). This time, SG-1 isn't there to witness it. Chapters 1 & 2 are the same; this picks up where they left off. Hopefully that isn't too confusing.

* * *

**Inside the compound**

Jack and Daniel were surprised and a little leery when they exited the tunnel. So far they hadn't run into _anyone_, alive or otherwise. Still, they methodically searched the rooms and moved towards the center of the compound.

The sight they found unnerved them.

It appeared that all of Seth's followers were in the main room, laid out on the floor – as was Seth himself. While it was obvious from the blade in his throat that both the host and the Goa'uld symbiote were dead, there didn't appear to be any fatal wounds on the others. Did they drink spiked Kool-aid?

Before they could check the bodies, the followers started to groan in pain and moved slightly. Jack called to Jacob that it was clear to come in, but just the SGC people. That caused the Tok'ra and the other half of SG-1to share a look of bewilderment. A few minutes later, they joined Jack and Daniel with the recovering followers.

Jacob was the first to recover and demand, "What happened in there?"

"Not sure," Jack answered. "We walked in to find them knocked out and Seth dead. I'm guessing someone beat us here. And it was somebody who knew what Seth was."

Since she hadn't seen the corpse yet, Sam asked, "How do you figure, sir?"

Daniel showed them all Seth's body. "It looks like the host and the symbiote died at the same time with a knife in the throat."

"Did the people say anything when they woke up?" she continued her questioning.

"Ow?" When Jacob and Sam both glared at him, he insisted, "Seriously, all they've done so far is groan."

Sam looked at the people and realized it would be few more minutes before they were any use. Still, she lowered her voice to continue, "I guess we'll have to debrief them. Did you find any Goa'uld technology?"

Jack's mood suddenly soured. "Not a single zat."

Knowing the answer, Daniel still checked, "Is it possible he didn't have any?"

After conferring with Selmak quietly, Jacob shook his head, "He should have had at least one piece so he could better control his people."

"Indeed. Especially for people who didn't grow up enslaved to the Goa'uld," Teal'c offered his quiet counsel.

The younger Carter accepted it was a legitimate question, but she had a more pressing concern. "Back to who killed him. Could there be a Tok'ra on Earth or are we thinking this is another Goa'uld?" she inquired, stealing a side-long look at her father.

Who shook his head again. "If it's a Tok'ra, they're either acting outside of the Council, or they've been on Earth all this time," Selmak replied this time.

Still looking grim, Jack gave his opinion, "It's an awfully big coincidence that this is happening just as we show up. My gut says a snakehead is behind this."

By this point, the followers seemed alert enough to answer question, so Daniel suggested just that, "Well, let's talk to the survivors and see what they say."

* * *

Once they were done and released the survivors to the ATF personnel, Sam turned to her CO. "Looks like you might be right, sir. The only thing that contradicts your theory is the fact Seth's 'sister', Bastet didn't kill his followers, too. That doesn't seem like typical Goa'uld behavior."

"It doesn't match the intel we have on Bastet, either," Jacob agreed. "Even though she's a minor system lord, she's still quite ruthless."

Annoyed that their trip had turned out to be somewhat of a bust, Jack knew they had to face their leader sooner or later. "Well, let's get this info back to Hammond; see how we should proceed."

"I just hope she came to kill Seth and has left Earth already," Sam remarked, although she didn't hold out much hope for that possibility.

Daniel blurted out, "How? Unless she has a ship, she only could have come through the gate…oh, shit!" he swore as he realized the headache that was about to come their way.

Jack confirmed his suspicions with his next words, "Probably what Hammond will say – just in a more General sort of way."

* * *

**Mountain**

Fighting the urge to slam his head repeatedly against the nearest hard surface, Hammond summarized what his people just told him, "You're say that not only is there possibly another Goa'uld loose on the planet, but she might have come through _our_ gate!"

"On the plus side, she took care of Seth for us without any casualties," Jack attempted to cheer up his commander.

The look the General shot him said his efforts were wasted. "Hardly a comforting thought, Colonel, since we don't know what her intentions are," Hammond replied.

* * *

A few minutes later, the PA interrupted their debriefing with the announcement, _"Unauthorized gate activation! Unauthorized gate activation!"_

They rushed to the control room. Hammond barked out, "What's happened, Sergeant?"

"I don't know, sir. The gate just formed an event horizon – without any chevrons engaging," Sgt. Harriman answered with obvious confusion in his voice.

Sam looked at the room. "Can you close the iris?"

The gate technician shook his head, "No, ma'am. As soon as it started to close, something forced open again."

Feeling a migraine and a sense of nervousness building, Hammond asked, "Can we tell if it's incoming or outgoing?"

"Outgoing, sir," Sam replied after checking the computer. Then she added in a defeated tone, "We just don't know where. Something just went through the Stargate," she announced a minute later.

Unable to contain himself, Jack snarked, "What do you want to bet that was Seth's loving sister?"

Harriman called out, "Sir? Something just fell to the ramp. It looks like a piece of paper."

* * *

**A while later…**

After the letter was tested by the safety techs, Hammond called SG-1 and Jacob back together. "There was nothing harmful on the paper. The person who dropped it claimed to be Bast – not Bastet. She wrote that as long as we stay out of her way, we have nothing to fear from her."

He paused for a moment, then went on, "She also claims to be at war with _'those who would enslave innocent creatures.'_"

The others could hear the quote marks around the phrase. Sam was the first to comment on it, "Interesting that she didn't say humans. I wonder why?"

"I'd be more concerned with the idea that she doesn't see the difference between Goa'uld and Tok'ra," Hammond warned. "She wrote that before she had any dealings face-to-face with us, she needed to know if 'Jacob' was a threat. She was a little leery of Teal'c as well. But she views the Jaffa as innocents she needs to free."

"So there's a Goa'uld that wants to kill all of her race, including the Tok'ra…maybe?" Daniel attempted to summarize the letter.

"She sounds like she's gone off her rocker," Jack declared. "Don't suppose anyone's figured out how she got from her former host to somebody on Earth?" he inquired of the Tok'ra sitting with them.

Selmak answered this time, "Not a single clue. I'd better get back to the Council and warn them of this new threat. We'll have to see if she has her own cloaking device or if it's a copy of Nirrti's. There's also the matter of how she could open the gate without dialing it."

Daniel's eyes widened at a memory from a few years earlier. "We've actually seen those two things before. The Nox have those abilities. I just wish we had some way of contacting them to see if they would recognize the signature. If the Tollan had survived we might have a chance through them."

Pushing aside her pain at the loss of her friend, Narim, Sam's blood froze when another idea crossed her mind. "What if a Nox were the new host for Bastet?"

That thought unsettled all of them.

* * *

A/N: Next…From Buffy's side.


	6. Chapter 6 ‘B’ version: The Takedown

**Chapter 6 ('B' version): The Takedown**

A/N: Just a reminder, this is a continuation of Chapter 5 ('B' version).

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Sunnydale**

As they were preparing to leave Sunnydale – basically for good – Buffy turned her attention to getting the snakey parasite demon. "So, Giles, how do you want to do this? Should I leave you outside until it's safe or do you want to come in too?"

Giles thought about the options, not liking the idea of letting his Slayer-turned vessel for a goddess walk into an unknown situation physically alone. "What does Bastet tell you about what we should find, and can Bast help us?" he asked, needing more information about the situation.

Knowing that the way she thought and talked about the fake goddess pissed her off, Buffy deliberately replied, "Well, snakey said that along with her brother, he might have a couple other snakes acting as his enforcers. However it's doubtful he'd have more than that 'cause he'd be risking a coup. He's been gone from the galactic picture for a _really_ long time, so she doesn't think he'd have many – if any – Jaffa soldiers to protect him."

"So he'll be mostly dependent on humans to defend him," Giles commented somewhat absently, almost to himself. "Do they follow him because of his charisma or can he brainwash them somehow?"

Buffy tilted her head as if she was listening to someone talk – the way she had been doing a lot since Halloween. "Snakey knows of a substance she calls Nishta that makes people susceptible to control. These fake gods are very paranoid so he'll probably be using it – if he has it." After listening a little longer, she got nasty grin that indicated all was not lost for the pair. "The lucky thing for us though, is Bast says we can override the drug with an electrical shock."

Well, that was good news, but how were they supposed to administer electrical shocks to a large number of people? "Any suggestions how to do that?" Giles inquired.

Buffy remembered something from a movie or TV show – she wasn't sure which at the moment – that might work. "We could get tasers, but the unfortunate part of that is they aren't really fast repeat weapons – at least from what I've heard about them. Guess I'll have to knock them out the hard way and we can taser them one at a time," she decided with a shrug. Physical violence was easier for her anyway.

"Why don't we get a couple of those tasers, then we can go to Set's compound?" Giles remarked, impressed that Buffy had her own idea, instead of Bast giving her one. Modern weapons were generally not in the Slayer's arsenal.

As they drove to a self-defense store in LA, Buffy recalled another piece of information her redheaded friend told her. "Oh yeah, Willow warned me that it's become a regular Waco. Feds are surrounding the place, so Bast will have to teleport us inside. She can sense him then place us far enough away so we can knock out some of his groupies first. She'll also hide me from his senses."

Giles looked concerned by that last comment. "What do you mean?"

Not the least bit worried, Buffy shrugged the ability off; it wasn't anything new to her. "The snakes can feel when another of their kind is nearby."

**Seth's compound**

_**Before**_** SG-1 arrives…**

After they teleported into the compound, the pair quietly started checking rooms for people and/or weapons. They finally stumbled upon what looked like an armory. Recognizing the demony weapons from Bastet's memories, Buffy explained them to her Watcher, "Okay, Giles. These are weapons the bad guys use. The big stick one is called a staff and is basically used to kill, unless you just hit people with it. The hand ones are zat'nik'tels and can be used to just knock people out. We actually can use it to help with the Nishta since it is an electrical current. But you have to be careful to only shoot them once," she warned.

Giles nodded his understanding, but still inquired, "What happens if I hit them twice?"

"They die. Three times and they disappear. Watch…" She aimed at a chair in the room and zatted it three times.

Duly impressed, Giles exclaimed, "Astonishing! I wonder if it would work for vampires and demons?" he thought aloud.

Buffy conferred with her other 'personalities' – well, mostly just the goddess, since the other one was sulking. "Bast thinks we'd have to use it three times and just disintegrate them. We couldn't count on it stunning or killing them – especially the vamps since they are already dead," she clarified.

"Good point," Giles agreed. These might be handy for the side of light. Too bad they couldn't tell anyone about them. They'd never be able to explain where they got them, and the danger of them falling into the wrong hands – demon or even _human_ – was too great to risk.

Looking at the cache of weapons, Buffy asked, "So, how many of these things should we take with us?"

Giles didn't want to lose the chance for them to have a ready supply of weapons, but they also couldn't be carrying all this around with them. "Would it be hard to get some later from Bastet's people?" he asked.

Guessing his hesitation, Buffy smirked, "She probably would have a bigger armory; she might even have some hand devices."

"Hand devices?" He didn't remember hearing about those before.

"Multi-function tool. It's a weapon, shield and healing device all in one." Buffy's gleeful expression turned somber as she recalled a drawback to the device. "Only problem is that you have to have one of those snakey demons in you to work them. I might be able to with Bast's help, though."

Shrugging, Giles dismissed the thought for now. After all, it wasn't like they had one to work with at the moment. "We'll worry about that later. As for these weapons, let's just take a couple zat'nik'tels each and destroy the rest of them. We wouldn't want them falling into the hands of humans or demons," he said, thinking about his earlier concern.

Buffy shuddered at the idea of someone like the Master having these things. "Good point."

When they finished, they moved through the compound, continuing their raid. As they approached the main room, Buffy felt the other Goa'uld nearby. "Guess it's time for a family reunion. Let's go kick some snakey butt."

"Be careful, please," Giles pleaded habitually.

She just smiled back at him and promised, "Always, Watcher-mine."

**Main room**

"Hey, big brother, how's it going?" Buffy called out, sauntering into the room that held Set and the majority of his followers.

Set whirled to face the newcomers. "Just who might you be?" he demanded.

Buffy pretended to pout. "Aww, you don't recognize your sister, Bastet? Well, I guess to be fair, I'm not really her anymore…just have her memories."

"You were the host to Bastet? How did you survive her leaving you?" Set questioned. He hadn't heard of that happening before; maybe things had changed offworld. Except, there was no reason for the host to survive after the Goa'uld was finished with it.

"Mmm, just stronger than the average host," Buffy said with a flippant shrug of her shoulders. "That, and I got the help of a _real_ goddess," she taunted, knowing it would wind the creature up.

Set didn't disappoint her. "The Goa'uld _are_ real gods!" he bellowed.

She just snorted derisively, "Yeah, right! If you were real gods, you wouldn't have to steal, brainwash and enslave people. You don't even come up with your own gadgets; you take the best from other races – at least those you understand. That part is actually understandable though. We have an expression on earth: 'To the victor go the spoils.' It's the thinking you're gods part that bugs me."

"How dare you defy the Goa'uld?! You'll pay for that insolence!" he threatened, his eyes flashing angrily.

"Sheesh, you're not nearly as scary as the last two big bads I faced – and one of them was kind of a …what's the term, Giles? Poof?" she turned to ask her Watcher. Giles glared at her, then nodded. "But I guess we should just get this over with; no sense in risking any innocents by dragging this out," she said, more to keep from upsetting Giles than anything else.

Sneering at the mere mortal standing before him, Set challenged her, "You think you can beat a god?"

Actually giving it some thought, Buffy decided, "Mmm, not sure I'd want to try. Fortunately, you're not _really_ a god, so all I have to do is this…"

Before he could react, she whipped a dagger at him. The followers who hadn't been zatted yet were horrified to see their 'god' drop to the floor, dead before he hit. Then she grabbed the zat tucked in the back of her pants and helped Giles finish zatting everyone.

She walked over to the body of the Goa'uld host and took something from him. "This is the hand device I was talking about," Buffy said.

As interested as he was in the new piece of equipment, Giles suggested, "We should take it and test it when we have some privacy."

"Speaking of which, I hear some guys coming our way from the tunnels. Get over here so I can cloak you," she commanded nicely.

Once they were hidden, Giles commented, "That is really considerate of Bast to do this for us."

Buffy felt Bast's pleasure at Giles' words. "Yup. She also said she can mind-link us if you want. That way we can talk to each other without alerting anyone to our presence," the former Slayer offered.

"It is only temporary, right? And it's only to talk?" Giles asked, worried about the idea of them sharing thoughts. "No offense, but I don't want you traipsing about in my mind."

"No offense taken; I feel the same way. She said it's only a walkie-talkie effect," Buffy assured him.

Giles nodded his acceptance. "Then tell her to go right ahead."

* * *

A/N: Next…Watching SG-1.


	7. Chapter 7 ‘B’ version: The Plan

**Chapter 7 ('B' version): The Plan**

A/N: Just so I don't have to have italics through this whole chapter, I'm telling you that this is all mental communication between Buffy and Giles. _None_ of it is out loud, 'k? It will be marked like {this} to remind you.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Thanks to my betas: AshDawnSoulmates and zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Seth's compound**

**SG-1 arrives…**

Trying out their new, mental 'talking', Buffy inquired while studying the new arrivals, {What do you think…military or Feds?}

Startled by the sound of Buffy's 'voice' in his head, Giles decided, {Well, the older one might as well be wearing a military uniform, but the other one looks more like an academic to me.}

{Yeah, like a mini-Giles,} Buffy teased, almost laughing when she felt him glaring at her. When more people stormed in the front door, she almost grabbed the zat still tucked in her pants. {Whoa! The other three are setting off my spidey-sense, Giles. The blonde chick, not so much, but the black mountain I think is a Jaffa and the bald guy feels like Set did,} she explained.

Giles' eyes narrowed at the last one. {Another Goa'uld?} he asked.

She knew it was basically a rhetorical question, but she still replied, {Not sure.}

They listened a little longer before Giles picked up something he wanted clarification on. {Who are these Tok'ra they are talking about?} He hoped the memories of the false goddess would have something on them.

Buffy and Bast had to practically force it out of Bastet 'cause she was hoping Buffy would just kill first, ask questions never. {Umm, they are a small group of Goa'uld that don't like the way the rest of them behave. Huh, they're like a resistance against the main group,} Buffy theorized.

{Then they would be our allies. At least they could be,} he corrected himself. Allies would be very nice, considering they were going into this battle almost blind. Sure, they had Bast, but she wasn't a physical ally – except for enhancing Buffy's abilities.

Feeling unusually cautious, Buffy asked, {Do you mind if we wait before revealing ourselves to these people? I'd like to check things out first.}

Proud that Buffy wasn't rushing into revealing their secret, Giles agreed, {Sounds like a sensible plan to me. Do you have any ideas of where to start?}

{Well, we could either go to Bastet's homeworld…} Buffy started to say before Bast interrupted her thoughts, {or there's a planet of creatures that Bast helped once upon a time. She gave them some abilities – like the cloaking – to help them fight against the Goa'uld. It's been a long time since she checked in on them, but it might be the safer of the two options.}

Giles liked the second choice better already; sounded like more allies – and one that was familiar to at least one of them. {How would we get there?} he questioned.

Before she could answer, the people in front of them provided them with it. Buffy mentally smiled at her Watcher. {Hmm, sounds like _they_ have a way. This gate they're talking about is what Bastet calls the Chappa'ai. Gateway to the Stars or something like that. It connects different world that are – or have been in the past – habitable to humanoid species. A race called the Alterans were responsible for making them and putting them around the galaxy. Bast says they died out a long time ago…sort of.}

That sounded strange to the Watcher. {What does she mean 'sort of'?}

The whole thing was freaky in Buffy's opinion, but she explained anyway, {They don't need their bodies anymore to exist; they're energy now.}

{Why haven't they stepped into take care of these Goa'uld then?} Giles wanted to know. Then he had another thought and asked, {Can they not affect the physical world anymore?}

{They can, but don't 'cause they are worried about being viewed as gods themselves,} Buffy replied, actually agreeing with their reasoning, but still angry at their hands-off approach.

Giles hadn't considered that just yet either. They would have to tread carefully in their dealings with these beings. {Something we should keep in mind when we are getting rid of these demons. Especially if they have people worshiping them.}

{Yeah. Even Bast doesn't want to be worshipped – and she _is_ a goddess,} Buffy agreed. She was proud of the being sharing her mind and body for that attitude; it obviously wasn't shared by all the gods. {Well, one way we can take care of being seen as gods is not be seen at all. When we go to a world that has Goa'uld on it, we just remain invisible.}

Since they were basically just waiting for the people in front of them to decide what to do next, Giles wanted to discuss their plans for the war they were about to wage, {The demons themselves are easy enough to deal with. Does Bast have an idea how to take care of the hosts and Jaffa? Didn't Bastet say they can't live without the demons once infected?}

{The demons act as their immune system. Gotta admit, it's pretty sneaky of them to do. Keeps everyone dependent on them,} Buffy said, sickened by the thought, yet somehow impressed by their cunning.

{Bast suggests that we just merge the symbiote to the host or Jaffa – after we neutralize the part of the demon that is evil; you know, like a supernatural lobotomy. The people still get the benefits of the little snakes without having them take over. Hopefully it will give us enough time to wean the Jaffa off the idea that the Goa'uld are gods.} Her tone turned regretful then, {Eventually they'll run out of snakes to use, though. How much time does a society need to change one of its basic beliefs?} she asked.

Giles knew this would hurt his Slayer – he had a hard time not thinking of her as that, even if she wasn't one anymore – but refused to sugarcoat the truth. {Some of them will never let it go. It's horrible to think, but there will be causalities from doing this,} he warned.

{Is it right to do it then? Who are we to make this decision for them?} she demanded, semi-rhetorically. The protector in her mourned _any_ death of innocents, and this sounded like it would be more than she had ever seen before. After all, it was basically full-scale war they were talking about.

Finding her hand, Giles gave it a comforting squeeze. {We are fighting demons, Buffy,} he reminded her. {You know that there are humans that worship vampires as well, but that doesn't stop us from slaying them.}

Buffy sighed in resignation, {I know. It just bugs me that we have to do this 'cause some god played a practical joke and let it get out of hand.}

{I agree, dear girl. There's a reason Janus is the god of Chaos,} he pointed out.

Then Buffy brightened at the news Bast gave her. {Well, it helps that he's getting his god-butt reamed out by the other gods for this. Bast says they are even considering making him human for a while to punish him.}

Having some idea at the loss of life they were going to face, Giles didn't feel bad for the god in the slightest. {By the time we're done with this task, we might be cheering that decision.}

{Hey, I'm cheering it already.} Just then the group they were watching came to a decision that it didn't sound like they wanted to make. They had to report this to their boss. {Oops, they're getting ready to go. We should follow so we can use their gate; I'm assuming that's where they are going now.}

**Cheyenne Mountain**

{Seems you made quite the impression on these people,} Giles remarked dryly, conveniently forgetting his role in subduing Set's followers.

But Buffy wouldn't let him forget why she knew about Set in the first place. {Hey, it's your buddy, Ethan's fault I got snake-girl in my head. How could we know that they knew about her?}

{Well, we should get out of here before we cause any more problems for them. But it would be best if you left them a note about our intentions,} he suggested.

{Just what do you suggest I say? 'We leave in peace'?} Buffy asked incredulously. What could she possibly tell them that wouldn't cause them to freak out even more?

Giles mentally glared at her. {Not in those words, but the sentiment isn't a bad one. You may want to add why we aren't talking to them right away,} he added.

Buffy had to admit he had a point with that last bit. {M'kay. Then Bast wants to go visit the Nox – the race of creatures she helped out before,} she clarified.

{Has she explained how to work the gate? Somehow I don't think they will assist us in leaving,} Giles remarked, looking at all the computers and such that they used to run the place. Even if Jenny and Willow were here, he doubted they could get very far before they were discovered. That was if Jenny were even still speaking to him.

{Yeah, it's one of the powers she gave the Nox. I just have to think of the symbols for their homeworld and it will open the portal. Then we just have to step through and we're on our way.} Buffy sounded hesitant when she asked, {Will I disappoint you if I admit that the idea of going through it scares me almost worse than facing the Master?}

{Not at all,} Giles comforted her. {It's only sensible to be nervous – despite Bast's assurances that this is safe. We can only hope that it gets better with time. Will we be able to come back to Earth this way or will we need to procure a ship?} he suddenly wondered.

Buffy had a mental chat with her goddess. {They have a shield-thingy, but Bast says she can get around it. We may want to do the ship though. At least until we're ready to talk to these guys about fighting together. Glad we already said our goodbyes to the gang,} she said sadly.

Knowing that it hurt more to drag it out, Giles said, {Let's get this over with.}

Looking the symbols of the Nox homeworld in the order Bast gave them to her, Buffy softly said out loud, "Goodbye, Earth." She dropped the note she had written just before stepping through.

* * *

A/N: Next…The Nox.


	8. Chapter 8 'B' version: The Nox

**Chapter 8 ('B' version): The Nox **

A/N: I'll be switching back and forth between Anne and Buffy for a while. Sorry for any confusion.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenge: #5248 'The Nox!' by Almadynis. Tentatively until I hear from Almadynis.

Thanks to my betas: AerynSpeedleCaine and zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

**

* * *

**

Nox Homeworld

Buffy and Giles exited the Stargate, only to see a land devoid of any obvious signs of civilization. The only thing manmade anywhere nearby was the gate itself. After double-checking that they were alone, Giles remarked, "When you said we were going to see Bast's people, I was expecting…people, not an open field."

"So did she, but she admits it's been a very long time since she's checked in on them. Gee, I hope they're okay," Buffy admitted, her and Bast's concern evident in her voice. "If we can't find them, we'll have to do this the hard way and just start with Bastet's holdings." Within moments though, she began to smile.

A voice appeared out of nowhere – or that's how it felt to Giles. "Ancestor, it is wonderful to see you again!" a creature bearing a disturbing resemblance to Snyder declared joyfully. Wow, that was just strange coming from that face.

The female with him bowed her head respectfully in Buffy's direction. "Welcome, Ancestor. How may we serve you?"

"Her people?" Giles murmured quietly to his former Slayer.

However, it was Bast who answered him, "Some of them." Then she raised her voice to address the new beings with them, "Greetings, my Nox children. Tell me, where are the others?"

Unaware of who she was talking about, Anteaus replied, "They are in our villages and our sky-city, Ancestor."

Bast shook her head though, "I meant my other children, the ones you are meant to guide."

"'Guide', Ancestor?" Lya questioned. This was a term they hadn't heard before – at least not as their Ancestor was indicating.

"Yes. The Nox serve as the guides and the Furlings are the protectors; together you are the guardians," Bast explained, confusion wrinkling her brow.

Understanding dawned on Giles' face, and he checked, "They are the predecessors to Watchers and Slayers?"

Bast gave him a patented Buffy smile. "You are correct. The two sides of the coin: head and fist, mind and might." She turned back to the Nox to ask, "Where are my warriors?"

Horrified, Anteaus proclaimed, "We abhor violence, Ancestor, and strive to keep from harming any creature."

Lya added softly, "It is what we have been taught for generations."

Stunned at her failure to stay part of her people's lives, Bast shook her head sadly. "Then I have been gone for too long. The special talents I gave to your people were to help the Furlings to fight against any evil they encountered. At first it was the beasts, but when the Goa'uld started to grow in strength and number, they should have battled them," she explained.

Upset that their Ancestor was disappointed in them, Anteaus apologized, "We are sorry for failing you, Ancestor. The Furling have not been around for hundreds of years. Neither we nor the Asgard have heard from them since."

Bast waved off the apology. "The failure is not only on your side, children. I share a good portion of the blame as well. I allowed myself to be distracted by other issues instead of keeping an eye on this dimension as closely as I should have. We will just have to find the Furling another way – if they still exist," she added with a distressed look on her face.

"Can you teach us your ways again, Ancestor?" Lya requested. It would upset the Nox people to have to fight, but if it was the will of the Ancestor, they would learn.

"Yes, but my vessel has the task of ridding this galaxy of the Goa'uld vermin, so she may need your assistance in that endeavor," Bast said.

Lya looked quizzically at her Ancestor. "Your vessel?"

Bast just smiled in return. "The young warrior whose body I share. She has agreed to serve as my link to this plane of existence in exchange for some of the same powers I have entrusted to you and the Furling. You may call her Anne. This is her guide, Giles."

"It is a pleasure to meet both of you. You must be honorable creatures to be able to serve the Ancestor in this way. I am Anteaus and this is Lya," he introduced himself and his companion. "Come! We will introduce you to the others!"

"Hear that, Giles? We're honorable _creatures_," Buffy/Anne snarked as they followed the Nox, Bast having given control back.

Giles smiled indulgently, hoping to diffuse her irritation before it grew to anger. "I'm sure he didn't mean any disrespect, dear girl. Let's see if they can help us with a way to defeat the Goa'uld with as few casualties as possible," he said to remind her of their overall goal.

Buffy let out a long-suffering sigh, "Fine. But if they call me a creature again, I'm smacking some twiggy-heads together," she vowed half-heartedly. It probably only bugged her so much coming from the Snyder look-a-like.

**

* * *

**

Nox village

Once they had been introduced to the rest of the Nox, their eldest male, Ohper, addressed Bast respectfully, "How may we help you, Great Ancestor?"

After dealing with Buffy poking – metaphysically –her, Bast replied, "First, my vessel wishes for you to either refer to me as Bast, or if she is speaking, Anne. This worshipful attitude gives her the 'wiggins' – which means it makes her uncomfortable." Seeing the reluctance on her people's faces, she added, "To be honest, since we are trying to rid the galaxy of beings who pretend to be gods, I fully understand and respect her attitude."

Intrigued by the creature who was given the honor of serving the Ancestor this way, Gaea requested, "May we speak to her now, Anc- Bast?"

Anne waved cheerfully after Bast ceded control again. "Hey forest folks. Bast has told me all about you, and I knows she feels bad for not keeping closer tabs on what's been going on with you. Just to let you know, Giles is the diplomatic one and I'm the headbuster. So you'll probably feel more comfortable talking with him. I'm the Earth-version of the Furlings; he's one of you guys. Plus, I'm what he calls irreverent and disrespectful – although we're working on fixing that," she babbled.

"With limited success, I might add," Giles murmured in a stage whisper. Buffy just stuck her tongue out at him, which startled the Nox to see their Ancestor's vessel to behave in such a manner.

Anteaus' daughter, Melia shyly stood before Buffy and asked,"Do you really speak to the Ancestor?"

Pulling the little girl onto her lap, Anne enjoyed the cuddling for a second before answering, "Yup. She saved me when one of those wormy fake gods tried to take over my body and mind. That's how I know how evil those things are and that we need to get rid of them to keep more people from dying and being hurt. I know that you guys like to live in peace, but there's a saying on our planet. Can't remember who said it, but it goes something like 'All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.' Sometimes you need to help the fight – even if you don't actively fight yourselves."

"You are probably thinking of former President Kennedy's quotes to that effect," Giles interjected before addressing the Nox, "But Anne is correct; there are people who are against violence, but still serve in the military. They generally serve as medics or other support personnel. We won't force you to fight. All that we ask is for you to help us to spare even greater loss of life for other planets."

Lya's husband, Sufax, smiled at both of their guests. "I think you are both good diplomats. What is it that you wish to accomplish?" he questioned.

Looking at Giles – who just nodded back that she should handle the explanation – Anne began speaking, "The way we understand these Goa'uld baddies, they are just parasites that use hosts to live. Now apparently, there's a small group of them who don't believe like the rest and wish to peacefully co-exist with their hosts. There's also the Jaffa to consider. Both them and the human hosts depend on the Goa'uld to heal their bodies and keep them healthy. So we need a way to get rid of the parasites while saving as many of the Jaffa and hosts as possible."

Pleased at her wording, Lya still wanted to be sure of her intentions, so she inquired, "So you do not wish to kill them all?"

Anne shook her head; despite the massive logistical problems with trying that, she and Giles didn't want to be responsible for genocide – especially for a race who was just used as slaves. "Just the bad guys. We do know that some of the Jaffa and hosts are evil themselves, but hopefully without their parasites to empower them, they won't be able to cause too much damage on their own. What we do expect to happen is that this will spark internal struggles among the survivors. It's unfortunate, but also unavoidable."

After thinking for a moment or two, Gaea offered a possible solution, "We have heard of a planet where the queen of the Tok'ra lives. Her prim'ta offspring are harvested to provide the people of that world with better health. Perhaps there is a way to modify that to help the Jaffa and human hosts."

"But you will have trouble convincing the people of that world to let you see her," Tinjis, Anteaus' wife, interjected with a displeased expression. "They keep her trapped, forcing her to continue providing prim'ta for their medicine."

Anne wasn't sure if she liked that idea. Even if this queen wasn't on the side of good, there was just too many things that could go wrong with a situation like that. "Well, that sounds like something we need to fix – especially if she's a good guy, so to speak."

Carefully considering the best way to deal with the situation, Giles suggested, "Maybe if we can help them with an alternative to using the Tok'ra prim'ta, they'll be willing to help us. I take it this means the Tok'ra truly are the enemy of the Goa'uld?" he asked the apparent Nox leader, Ohper. "We've only seen one – and that was just from a distance. We decided that until we knew they're true allegiance, we would wait to meet them fact-to-face."

The strange-looking 'man' hesitated for a moment before conceding, "They have some of the same arrogance as the Goa'uld, but they at least share control with their hosts. They also try not to take a host without getting permission first," Ohper added, wanting them to understand the differences between the two groups.

"Try?" Anne repeated, unhappy with the lawyery word.

In an attempt to soothe the Ancestor's vessel, Gaea hastened to explain, "There have been a few instances where they don't have the time to get consent. But those times are very rare, and they attempt to leave the host as soon as possible afterward."

Giles' brow furrowed in confusion. "Doesn't even a brief stay in the host body weaken the natural immune system?"

She shook her head in response. "It depends on how deeply they've blended. Part of the reason that Goa'uld hosts die – probably the main reason – is that the Goa'uld leave a poison in the body which ensures the host's death."

"Gee, that's real nice of them," Anne snarked. But this was getting them off-topic for now. "So, anyway, do you have the address of this world where we can find the queen?"

"We don't, but our allies, the Tollan, do," Anteaus announced, hoping it would help. All the Nox were upset over the treatment of the Tok'ra queen. To them it was tantamount to torture, and no matter the reasoning behind it, they considered it a grave evil.

"Okay then, I guess I'll have to go look into this Tok'ra queen," Anne said after trying to consider all the angles. There was the humanitarian aspect to think about, but there was also the strategic one.

Ohper hurriedly spoke up at her announcement, not wanting to lose their Ancestor so soon, "We were hoping that you'd stay to teach us Bast's ways, Anne."

Looking at her Watcher, Buffy replied, "I think that's more a job for Giles. Do you mind, Giles?"

Giles frowned back at her, displeased with the uncomfortable position she put him in. "I don't like the idea of you going off on your own – even if you have a goddess sharing your body."

"I will go with her!" Lya quickly proclaimed. She enjoyed missions of mercy – as this one certainly was – and to have a chance to spend more time with her Ancestor and her vessel? That was just a spectacular bonus.

"Sounds good to me," Anne agreed with a nod. "Females would probably be less threatening for the people of that world to deal with anyway."

Gaea wasn't sure how much power the Ancestor's vessel had for certain Nox tasks, so she suggested, "Tinjis or I should join you as well. In case anyone needs to be healed, having more than one Nox will speed up the recovery significantly."

Not that she thought she'd need the extra help, Anne still agreed in order to make Bast's people feel more involved. Plus, she wanted to get to know them better. "Okay, it's up to you who gets to come with, but we should probably try to hurry. There's a lot to do, and I'd like to get started as soon as possible."

Pulling her aside, Giles pleaded with obvious concern, "Please be careful, okay, dear girl?"

Buffy smiled back warmly at him. "You got it, Watcher-mine. Oh, Bast wants to know if you'd like her to give you a download of info about the Nox and Furling before we leave. You'll have to get some rest afterward, but it might help you."

Startled by the offer, Giles quickly agreed, "Sounds like a wonderful idea."

She pointed to a bed in the back of the hut they were just outside of. "Okay, why don't you lay down, and we'll get started." When she finished her little 'mind-meld', Buffy gave Giles a kiss on the forehead and told him that she'd see him as soon as they were done with the queen.

* * *

A/N: Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that the next several months are going to be very hectic for me, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update any of my stories. I'm not abandoning anything, and if I get the chance to post, I will.

A/N2: Next…The Tollan and Queen Egeria. (This is a new plot twist for me.)


	9. Chapter 9 'B' version: The Tollan & Pa

**Chapter 9 ('B' version): The Tollan & Pangarans**

A/N: Just a reminder that Buffy's human name is Anne now. She and Bast will be splitting Buffy's talking from now on.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenge: #5248 'The Nox!' by Almadynis. Tentatively until I hear from Almadynis.

Thanks to my betas: unbeta'd, just like the other updates.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**The new, new Tollan homeworld**

"Welcome back to the Curia, Lya," the High Chancellor said as the group entered the chamber. It was due to the Nox that the the Tollan hadn't been wiped out by Tanith's secret master.

"High Chancellor Travell," Lya nodded in respect and greeting. She gestured to her Ancestor, who stepped forward for the introduction. "May I introduce you to a friend of the Nox, Anne."

Travell nodded at the young woman, then asked, "And what may we do for you today, Anne, friend of the Nox?"

"I would like to meet the people who have Egeria," Anne requested courteously.

When she didn't continue, Travell prompted her for more information, "Why?"

Anne looked as Bast's people; it seemed like they wanted her to explain more, so she made a decision that she hoped wouldn't come back to haunt her later. "Lya has told me that you value honesty, so I'm going to be upfront about my plans. The Goa'uld are a race of demonic parasites that were introduced to this dimension thousands of years ago. I have been charged with the responsibility of getting rid of them."

A man sitting next to the High Chancellor by the name of Omoc - younger brother of the man SG-1 met back on Earth - spoke up at her grandiose proposal, "And just how do you intend to do that?"

"I haven't figured out all the details," Anne admitted, knowing instinctively that it was useless to lie. "That may not be the answer you're looking for, but it's the truth. I need to gather more information before I can come up with a plan."

Pleased that the young woman was willing to confess such problems when she was asking for help, Travell still had to wonder, "Who has charged you with this task?"

The change in Anne was different from when Goa'uld symbiotes take over their host bodies. Still it was a bit of a shock when Bast's voice answered, "I have, High Chancellor. My name is Bast, goddess of protection. It was my brother, Janus, who set the Goa'uld free. I apologize on his behalf."

Lya told the Curia how Bast was involved with the Nox, and why they trusted her, "She is our Ancestor; the one who gave us our special abilities. She shares the body with her vessel, Anne."

Just as suspicious as his brother, Omoc demanded, "How do we know that you don't want all the Goa'uld followers for yourself?"

"You don't," Bast conceded. She couldn't prove the unprovable, so she simply reminded them, "However, the Nox trust me, and you trust the Nox… Is that correct?"

The High Chancellor nodded her head, but felt it necessary to warn the young woman with a goddess inside her, "It is. I'm sure that she has told you that we will not help you fight, or give you any technology."

"That attitude must make it hard for you to make allies with other people," Anne quipped with a raised eyebrow. She held up her hand to stop any of their excuses and said, "Right now, I'm not ready for allies or technology anyway. I'm just trying to figure out how to get rid of the symbiotes with the least amount of casualties."

"Who would you consider casualties?" Travell inquired curiously. Her answer would go a long way towards deciding whether they would help her or not.

Anne's answer was quick and sure, "The hosts, the Jaffa, any symbiote that isn't evil."

Omoc was surprised by the last group she mentioned. From what he had seen on primitive worlds, anyone that used the term 'demonic' or something similar, automatically categorized them as bad things. "So you don't think that just because they are demonic they are evil?"

"No. I've met demonic creatures that are good, even though the majority of their race is evil," Anne replied. Okay, so she knew _one_good vampire, but that didn't mean there weren't other demons on earth that weren't evil. "It would be foolish of me to assume the same isn't true with the Goa'uld."

Travell smiled proudly at her. "Wise attitude, Anne. I assume that is why you wish to meet Egeria? See if the stories are true about the Tok'ra?" she checked.

"Yes, High Chancellor. Bast helped me kill a Goa'uld symbiote that invaded my body, and another one who was trying to enslave my people. During that time, we saw others who seemed to oppose the Goa'uld; one was a Jaffa, and the other claimed to be a Tok'ra. Instead of meeting them right away, we chose to find out more about the Goa'uld first," Anne explained, really hoping that they wouldn't hold it against her that she killed two symbiotes already.

"So you are cautious as well," Travell remarked, sounding almost as pleased about that as she was about Anne's attitude towards the symbiotes.

Instead of Anne answering, Bast took over again, "Anne has only dealt with serious betrayal once, and that was after we joined together. She is still naïve enough to believe the best in people. That is where my experience – and that of her guide – is invaluable. We temper her assumption of good."

Travell made the logical assumption, "Then you do not trust us."

Bast shook her head, "Not entirely. But you do not trust the Nox entirely either, so…"

"Then you understand that we'll need to send some of our people when you meet the people holding Egeria? And you won't be allowed to take any weapons with you," Omoc stated, pretty much conceding that they would help. Ever since they found out about the Tok'ra Queen, they felt guilty about the way they reacted to that situation.

"Of course. In the spirit of our new tentative alliance, I feel I should tell you that I don't need weapons to defend myself. I promise not to hurt anyone unless they attack me first," Bast vowed. "Now, I understand that they are holding her because of a medicine to keep them healthy?" Travell nodded in confirmation. "Then, if we want to free her, we'll have to come up with something of equal value to trade."

"If it is technology, we cannot help you," Travell warned; their guilt would not be overridden by their first law about sharing technology.

Anne came back to ask, "What about medicine?"

"Anne? It would be better to see if there was a way to help them develop their own medicine. The diseases on their planet would be different than those on either Tollan or the Nox world," Lya explained. "So unless the diseases came from a different planet, the cures for it would be found there as well. It's the balancing law of Nature."

"With all the interplanetary travel, I'm not sure we can depend on that law," Anne remarked, then quickly added so she didn't upset Lya, "but we can use it for a start."

* * *

**Pangar**

The Pangaran Leader, a man named Dollan, listened to Bast's request carefully, then asked with an incredulous tone, "You want us to give up our best chance at eradicating illness in our people?"

"Setting aside the moral issue for the moment, let me ask you what happens once you've injected this 'tretonin' into somebody? I mean, is it a one-time shot, or do you have to keep giving it to them?" Anne clarified when it seemed he didn't understand her first question.

"It requires shots at regular intervals," Dollan explained cautiously, unsure of where she was going with that line of questioning.

"So what happens when Egeria dies? That's the name of the symbiote that you're holding, by the way," Anne told the Pangarans, knowing from Bast that making a prisoner more relate-able often increases their chance at being treated better. "Without a sarcophagus or a new host, I'm told that the symbiote will eventually die – especially given the stress she is undoubtedly suffering because of forced breeding. Not to mention, she's a sentient being, and might not be real happy about being locked up like this."

Shaken by the claim they were holding somebody innocent, Dollan tried to bluff past his emotions, "Hopefully by the time that happens, we'll know how to make tretonin without harvesting symbiotes. Another option is to find a world with more symbiotes or even possibly another queen."

"That's a very dangerous game you're playing, sir," Anne warned. Even without Bast whispering in her mind, she knew that that plan was filled with potential hazards – such as what would happen if the symbiote ever managed to implant in somebody. "All I ask is that you let us come up with vaccines using plants that occur naturally on your world instead of holding the Queen of the Tok'ra resistance against her will."

Dollan knew it was over; they couldn't hold her anymore. Still, he had to ask, "But how do you know she is this Egeria?"

Narim from the Tollan representatives stepped forward to field that question, "When our people visited you before, we translated the jar she was trapped in. The markings indicate she was the leader of the resistance against the Goa'uld. By legend, that would make her Egeria."

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Dollan demanded, upset that they knew this, but didn't say anything.

"Because we had nothing to offer you to secure her release," Narim answered, looking just as uncomfortable with the reasoning as everyone else. "We couldn't ask you to give her up just because it offended our sensibilities."

Grateful that they hadn't gotten too far in the practical stages of testing, Dollan hoped that the people dependent on the drug would have to die now. "So you will help us find alternatives to tretonin?" he pleaded.

Lya was the first one to answer, "The Nox are quite skilled at finding plants that assist natural healing. Several of us would have to say here for many months in order to find the right mixture of them. Since we prefer staying in the forests, you do not have to worry about providing shelter for us."

Next, Narim spoke up, "The Tollan will assist…as long as it doesn't involve providing technology. The Curia feels responsible for staying quiet about Egeria's captivity," he explained their reasoning.

Anne smiled at the Tollan, proud that they were willing to accept responsibility for their inaction. Then she turned back to the Pangaran Leader to ask, "Is this acceptable to you? Will you allow us to remove Egeria?"

Nodding, Dollan said, "She is free to go, but it may be difficult to transport her the way she is now."

* * *

A/N: Next…Freeing a queen.


	10. Chapter 10 'B' version: The Queen

**Chapter 10 ('B' version): The Queen **

A/N: Oops, just realized when I was re-reading the story that I sorta screwed up with the Tollan, so I went back to fix chapter 9.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenge: #5248 'The Nox!' by Almadynis. Tentatively until I hear from Almadynis.

Thanks to my betas: too antsy to send it to them. Sorry for any mistakes I missed.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Pangarian world**

As they were walking to Egeria's holding tank, Lya asked, "Excuse me, Ancestor? I mean, Anne? How can we be sure that Egeria is unhappy in her current situation?"

Blinking in surprise at the possibility that they might be kidnapping the symbiote instead of rescuing her, Anne replied, "Huh, I would have thought that was a given. On the other hand, I don't know how these demons think."

"Could you share thoughts with her as you did with your guide?" Lya requested on behalf of the being in the other room.

Bast sighed, "The risk in that is I don't know their physiology. Anne is human, so I know that mind-melding with Giles wasn't dangerous to him."

The Tollan representative offered his opinion, "The we must consider the risks involved with each course of action. Right now she is essentially being kept alive by artificial means. Even with the best intentions and efforts, it will lead to atrophy. Next is moving her without explaining what is happening to her."

"Which would be like kidnapping somebody," Anne stated her earlier concern, "… even if the reasons for doing do aren't evil."

"Precisely," the Tollan replied with a nod of his head. "I would assume that Bast has a considerable amount of control when it comes to this 'mind-meld' you spoke of?"

"She knows how much to share and how fast, yeah," Anne confirmed.

The Tollan thought the final choice was the right one, under the circumstances, and he told them that, "I would consider that to be the best option then – except for perhaps letting her blend with someone."

"I agree," Lya said, casting pleading eyes on her ancestor's vessel.

Bast thought over each one, getting Anne's vote as well, before answering, "Not sure how I feel about the blending until we know if she's really Tok'ra or not. Okay, I'll try the mind reading."

* * *

**Egeria's mind**

Looking at the slug-like creature in the water, Anne reached in to touch it so they could communicate telepathically, "Hi there. My name's Anne. Are you Egeria, Queen of Tok'ra?"

"I am. How are we able converse without blending?" Egeria inquired, curious about the human she was talking to.

Bast took over to answer, "That would be my doing. I am Bast, goddess of protection." Her tone was that of veiled threat, in case Egeria had any plans to attack her vessel.

"In case you're wondering about the similarity in her name, she isn't Bastet," Anne clarified. "She did help kick that snakey demon's ass though. Sorry, didn't mean to offend you; I just didn't like Bastet's memories. Anyway, we were wondering if you were happy here, or if you wanted to leave with us," she added, skipping right to the main conversation.

Egeria was leery of the self-proclaimed goddess and her host. "That would depend on what you have planned for me," she replied warily.

Sensing that the symbiote didn't trust Bast, Anne asked to explain their goals. If things got bad, Bast would assume control again. "That depends on whether you're evil or not. I need help fighting the Goa'uld in a way that doesn't harm the innocent hosts or Jaffa. I was hoping that you could help with the brainstorming – you know, coming up with ideas of how to do it," she said/requested.

"What about the symbiotes that are innocent?" Egeria demanded, thinking of her children.

Anne smiled, getting what she hoped out be the hook to get Egeria to help them…assuming she was Tok'ra and they weren't evil. "See, that's where you come in; you can tell me how to tell if they're evil or not, and how save them. I guess the real question is, do you want to stay here?"

After considering her options, Egeria stated, "They aren't unkind to me, but I think I would rather help fight the Goa'uld."

"Okay. Until I can talk to my guide, we're just going to move you inside the tank," Anne explained, making sure that Queenie didn't expect a ride in her body.

"Will I get a host eventually? While I can survive like this, it does weaken me. Being in a host would restore me to full health – assuming I don't have to expend a lot of energy to heal them." Weak was an understatement; Egeria wasn't sure how much longer she could live without a host. But she didn't want to admit too much to these people until she knew them better.

"Hopefully…if we can make sure it's safe." When she felt the symbiote's confusion, Anne explained their caution, "I don't want to assume you're a good guy and give you a body, only to find out you're the Hannibal Lecter of the Goa'uld world. That's a serial killer from my homeworld…sort of." No sense in confusing non-Earth beings with movies and fiction stories.

Egeria 'nodded' her approval, "I understand your concerns. As a show of good intentions on my part, I'll tell you what I've withheld from my offspring that the Pangarians harvest from me." When she finished her explanation, she gave her reason for doing so, "I was hoping if the results weren't successful, they'd stop the experiments."

"Thank you for telling me. I'll pass that along to them," Anne replied, starting to like this symbiote a little. She really hoped that Egeria would be the real deal and Bast wouldn't have to kill her. "They wanted me to apologize to you, by the way. They thought you were an evil Goa'uld, so experimenting on you didn't cause them a lot of discomfort."

"That's understandable. I've watched the cruelties that the others have inflicted on countless worlds," Egeria answered. Seeing how evil her race could be was what caused her to rebel in the first place.

Not really sure how to end one of these mind conversations, Anne sorta babbled, "I guess this is goodbye until after the move then. We'll talk once we're settled to make sure you're doing okay," she promised. First, she'd have to talk to Giles though and figure out what to do about her.

"Thank you. That is very kind of you."

* * *

**Back on the Nox world**

After greeting her Watcher-turned-Guide, Anne pulled him to a private area to discuss the supposed Tok'ra Queen, "Hey, Giles? I think we need to find a host for Egeria as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"She doesn't want to admit it, but I think she's close to dying," Anne replied, confident she was right.

Giles, however, wanted a little more information before handing over a person to be…blended, he thought the term was. "If she hasn't said anything, why would you believe that?" he asked.

"Because I've heard that bravado in my own voice when I was fighting too many vamps when I was too tired or injured," she confessed. "The voice that says, _'I'm going to die, but I'm going to go down fighting.'_"

Not wanting to think about any times when Buffy- Anne ever felt that close to defeat, Giles changed the subject, "Can we trust that she is who she says she is?"

"I liked her, but that isn't exactly fool-proof. Bast wasn't able to reach into her mind deeply enough to make her own opinion, just enough for us to communicate," Anne admitted, knowing Bast was bothered by that 'failing'. "And I know from Bastet's memories that putting Egeria into somebody is risky. She can fool us into believing that the host is talking, when it's Egeria. If she does turn out to be evil, she might kill the host before we can get her out."

Even though Bast might have already told her, he still stated what he learned from conversing to the elders, "I've spoken to the Nox, and it appears that one of Bast's gifts to them and the Furling was that their physiology would reject a symbiote without risk to themselves. The only person that I know who can safely be a host…is you. Bast can keep the symbiote from killing you if it is evil, and once blended, Bast would know everything about Egeria."

"I hate to admit it, but that's what Bast and I came up with too. Sorta thought I'd have to convince you of it, though." She remembered back to Halloween night and how much it hurt when the Slayer fought off the fake goddess before Bast saved her and shuddered. Sighing, Anne remarked hopefully, "Well, it really sucked when Bastet tried to take me over, but maybe since Bast is already solidly in place, it won't be so bad."

* * *

A/N: Next…Back to Earth for a visit.


	11. Chapter 11 'B' version: The Blending

**Chapter 11: The Blending**

A/N: Some non-canon background coming up.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenge: #5248 'The Nox!' by Almadynis. Tentatively until I hear from Almadynis.

Thanks to my beta: zigpal.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Stargate characters belong to Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright / SyFy Channel. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

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**Nox Homeworld**

**Anne's dwelling**

After she got settled on the bed, Anne asked with a shaky smile, "Is everybody ready for this? 'Cause I know I'm not!"

"Don't worry…Anne just says things like that when she's nervous," Giles commented, looking at the Nox. Then he turned back to his friend and directed his next words to her, "She's strong enough to handle this."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she quipped gratefully.

Giles squeezed her hand and said, "I'm only speaking the truth, dear girl."

Once she took in Egeria, Anne laid down. The difference between blending with a Goa'uld and a Tok'ra was startling to her. In cooking terms, the Goa'uld felt like being shoved into a blender; if Egeria was representative of the Tok'ra, they felt like gently folding in with a rubber scraper. A clumsy metaphor, but one her Home Ec teacher would have appreciated.

It didn't take long for Bast to determine that Egeria was the genuine article. Unfortunately, the forced breeding had indeed weakened her too much to survive another blending right away – unless they got some help healing her.

Opening Anne's eyes, Bast turned to her people to request that help, "My Nox, I need your assistance in healing Egeria. Without it, she will die shortly. I will be able to save Anne if that happens, but we would lose a valuable ally."

Quickly, the Nox gathered around the Ancestor's vessel and began their healing chant. Because the symbiote was not natural to this dimension, it took longer to heal it – something they noticed before, but hadn't considered the reasons behind it. They were determined not to fail Bast again, so they kept going until they literally dropped in exhaustion.

They had done all they could do; the rest was up to Bast, Anne and Egeria. Giles moved them to chairs in the room so they could wait.

Giles hovered nervously at Anne's beside throughout the night. Despite Bast's assurances, he was scared he might lose his Slayer- er, friend.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief when she opened her eyes and muttered, "I wanna smack those Pangarians for what they put Egeria through. That was _not_ pleasant."

"Is she…is she well?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yup, and excited to kick some Goa'uld ass!" Anne replied with her usual zip. "The three of us have decided that it would be nice if she found a permanent home in somebody else, though. The main reason for that is 'cause it's getting crowded in here, but also 'cause it would be nice to have a physical ally – especially when we go to meet the Tok'ra. The trouble is finding somebody to be her host," she finished with a frown. Even though the blending was nicer, it was still a bit overwhelming to a human. She could imagine it would be worse for somebody without a goddess helping them.

This was something Giles had been thinking about since the Nox began healing Egeria. His idea both terrified him and gave him tremendous hope. "I know somebody back on Earth. My sister has been catatonic for the past 15 years. Maybe Egeria could help unlock her mind and give my baby sister back to me?" he inquired hopefully.

Anne saw his angst and immediately asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, "Not until I find out what happened to her."

"Alright," she agreed for the moment. "Then I guess we should figure out how to get back to Earth."

"Our choices are returning through the gate or getting one of Bastet's ships, correct?" he checked.

"Yeah. I'm afraid that either choice could freak out those soldier-types," Anne replied. "Somebody coming through the gate cover thing or a big scary ship in orbit? Not exactly great options if we want to be friends later."

Lya, who had been standing quietly in the corner since Anne woke up, inquired, "Why do you not want to speak to them, Anne? They are good people – even if they are more violent than we are comfortable with," she said in order to give her seal of approval…assuming it meant something to the Ancestor.

Giles handled the explanation; a throwback to their previous relationship of Watcher/Slayer, "People of our planet – especially the military people – prefer to have clear plans when dealing with dangerous situations. If we approach them before we know how we are going to implement our plan, they won't take us seriously. However, if we wait until after we've successfully started…"

"They'll see us as equals," Anne finished.

The Tollan representative spoke up, having entered just moments before, "Then might I suggest subterfuge?"

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"We have not informed the Tau'ri that we survived the Goa'uld attack on our last homeworld. A group of our people could visit to tell them of this while you went to retrieve your sister," the Tollan offered.

Before they could discuss it further, Opher came running in. "Ancestor! Ancestor! We believe we have discovered where the others went!" he shouted excitedly.

Bast looked very pleased at the news. "You have? Where?"

"It isn't a where, but _when_…which is probably why they haven't returned home yet," Opher guessed. "They were chasing a Goa'uld by the name of Hemera who believed she could manipulate time by using the Gateway. She believed that by going to the right point in history, she could wipe out her father's enemy, Ra, and all of his children. Then Erebos' children could rule the galaxy. Erebos was her father," he explained for the group.

"I wonder what went wrong with her plan. After all, if she had been successful, the bad guys would have different names now," Bast commented, sounding a little like her host.

Glad that they had learned so much in such a short time, Opher answered, "She didn't count on the majority of the Furling chasing her, Aither – her husband and brother – and their combined armies through the Gateway. They must have defeated her on the other side."

"How do you know all this now when you didn't the first time we asked about the Furling?" Giles wondered aloud. He didn't mean to hurt the Nox, but it piqued his curiosity.

Still, Opher lowered his head in shame. "The Furling left a scroll, explaining what they intended to do. Those who came before had read it, but when the decision to turn into a peaceful race was made, the scroll had been set aside. While you were rescuing Egeria, we asked the others to look up any information we had on the Furling. That was when the scroll was discovered again," he explained.

"This is wonderful news! Now I can find the Furling and bring them home…assuming they are still willing to follow me after all this time," Bast added belatedly. She was lucky the Nox were so forgiving; it might not be the same with the Furling.

The Tollan representative appeared astonished. He knew the apparent limitations of the gate system. "You can time travel?"

"No, but if it involves the gates, Janus can help get us there," Bast replied confidently. "Or whoever is fulfilling his role if he was truly made mortal as punishment for the Goa'uld disaster."

Opher handed the Ancestor a piece of paper. "Here is the scroll; it has the coordinates of the world they went to, and the Nox who went with them. When a search team was gathered to go to that world, we were unable to establish a connection using the Gateway."

Looking at the coordinates, Bast said, "That's because this isn't a normal gate address. There are eight symbols listed, not seven."

"Yes. The scroll said that Hemera believed the eighth symbol was a marking for time," Opher informed them.

Bast shook her head, "No. I'm not sure how time travel is accomplished with the gates, but this isn't it. An eighth symbol is used to go to a different galaxy. The Furling didn't move through time; they moved outside this gate system. If I'm not mistaken, this is in a different galaxy that the Alterans colonized."

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A/N: Next…The Furling – and maybe Giles' sister.

EDIT A/N: Oops, terribly sorry for my mistake at the end of the chapter. Didn't mean to imply the Ori galaxy.


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